is my liquid oxygen tank leaking?

[minority]

ok so I go to work today and turn my oxygen tank on and notice its completely out, I havent been to work in about a week and when I left I had at least 1/4 of my tank and made sure it was completely closed. I noticed early on when I got the tank it sounded like it was leaking but they said it was normal. When I work in the cold sometimes the top frosts over but the company said that was normal as well. Im calling nexair tomorrow and telling them if they dont do something there about to lose a customer. I would like your opinions on liquid tanks as well I think im about to switch back to my small tanks.

[2wheeler]

sounds fishy to me...

[JDNACEglass]

liquid tanks vent when you dont use them, and a week for 1/4 tank to vent off when not being used seems about right. liquid is far more economical, even if 1/4 of your tank vents unless u are paying alot for one, i was getting mine for 119 delivered, i moved and the tacked an extra 50 for delivery on, and if i only got 3/4 of a tank, still much cheaper than k tanks without the hassle. sometimes they will deliver one that vents from delivery, and if you open the vent valve and get the psi down to around 150, and then it keeps rising when you close the valve, might be a bad tank, they always bring me a new one when i tell them about it, it seems to me its probably chepaer for them to eat the cost of a tank than go and test each tank to make sure they are working properly. thats the only downside with them really, they vent when you dont use them, and it seems every tank is different in how fast they vent off

[2wheeler]

Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't your tank still have 230-350psi when you showed back up at the shop if it all vented out? I've got two tanks and I try to completely drain them before refilling. I usually rock about 80psi off the tank, but I'll chill on the lathe with my national and make parts until the oxygen goes down slowly. Took an hour the other day to go from 40psi down to 30psi.

[minority]

I have a nortel red max and talked to mr nortel himself and he told me to keep the psi around 8-10 so thats what I do, it just seems funny to me because Ive never had an issue with returning to my tank and seeing it lost oxygen, there again im usually at my shop every day or two. Im paying $200 for this monster plus $40 a month to rent it so i feel like i got screwed out of $50

[somewhere]

First question I have is how did you measure what was left in the tank?

[minority]

its the little ball in the cylinder on the top middle of the tank

[2wheeler]

Oh man... you were prob empty already.

[JDNACEglass]

i never trust the gauge on the tank, i always rock the tank to just feel the weight to judge how much is in there

[somewhere]

The only way to really know what's in the dewar is to have it sitting on a scale.


The contents gauge on liquid oxygen tanks are never accurate.

[minority]

I see what your saying about it never being accurate but I mean it seemed like a pretty big chunk, 1/4 was being generous it was a little less than half the tank and now its bone dry, no way Im paying $250 for that.

[somewhere]

You let a liquid oxygen tank sit for a week I can't see how you can blame anyone. Dewar tanks need attention if not being used. The oxygen is constantly turning from a liquid to a gas. The head pressure builds and it vents off. The longer it sits the more you lose.

It is very possible that as it was building pressure and venting it froze the vent open and you lost a substantial amount of oxygen.

Either way my welding shop wouldn't dream of refunding me money for a tank I left unattended unused for a week. If I was there and it was faulty they would happily replace the tank but there is no way you can prove the tank was faulty.

Bottom line is you don't know how much was in the tank when you left. You can speculate but you have no way of knowing for sure. How long did you have the tank before leaving it for a week?

[minority]

I could see how that makes since, I was using it for a little over a month with no problems. I called nexair and they said its not there problem because they delivered a full tank. Either way im done with liquid if its like that, Im going back to my small tanks.

[somewhere]

I don't know how much you work but if you can get a solid month out of a liquid tank I can't see how going to high pressure cylinders will be any better. Either way I'm sure you can do the math.

I would be delighted to get a month out of a dewar.

[hashmasta-kut]

i usually get a month working some every day, anywhere from 4-10 hours.

[minority]

well this is my fist time buying a full liquid tank so I didnt know too much about it. I used to buy the small 4 ft bottles for $20 and even those guys would last me a week or two. I actually went to nexair last week and they told me the really thick 6 ft tanks are only 57 cents more, so thats twice the amount of oxygen for 57 cents and those will easily last me a month. They told me the reason its like that is because the small tanks are so rare and the big thick ones are so common they can price them the same, didnt know if anyone knew that but Ive been blowing glass for over a year and just found that out. with that being said liquid oxygen can daralick my balls.

[Shattered Dreams]

what tank will last you a month? I want one.
a k tank lasts me 2-3 days if im working, at 25 each.
how can that compare to liquid?
I think its like 16 k tanks per dewar.

[minority]

72473

those guys in the back will last me a month, $20 a month to rent and $20.57 to fill it up. I work 5 days a week 5 hours a day, better than paying $200 for liquid and $40 for rent...I just dont get the whole liquid thing, doesnt seem cheaper to me.

[Shattered Dreams]

hard to tell size from the pic, is it something other than a k or t tank?

I thought the largest they made is like 330cf, and a k is 250?

if you have a larger torch you can work faster, but you use a lot more gases.
liquid gives you more oxygen for the cost, just need to put it to use and not let it go to waste.

[The Goat]

If a 320cf or less tank last a week. Liquid is a bad choice for you. I can burn through a 330 In a day on my redmax if I'm doing iso. How you get any size to last like that is a puzzle to me. The oxy bottle of plenty. Lol

[minority]

well like I said I only work weekdays 5 hours a day and I work with my psi on 8, I also rarely touch my big flame, what do you set your psi to?

[funksizzle]

I didn't read everyone's comments, but most.

On 8 psi, and 5 hours a day, I am almost surprised your tank doesn't vent within 24 hours.

LOX is a commitment if you work at home, or even at a business residence do not want to disturb your neighbors.

Look into making I%%%gal lox vent mufflers if you have neighbors.

But respect thy neighbor.

If you are going to leave for more than 2 days, run your tank out since it will vent anyways. Do this by turning on all your torches full blast, and attend them.

Or..........

find a really safe area to crack a valve of some kind, and attend it?

ANywho, with lox you must run your torch at least every other day at a bare minimum. If you dont use much oxy on the days you use it though, it wont work every other day. It really is a volume thing when it comes to your tank not leaking mostly.

Even with a heavy user or two for one tank, taking a sunday off may still vent it. I am not certain it goes by how much you were using, then stop though. It may have something to do with it.

ANywho, if inside, you'll still want to know where your tank vents as well so you dont rust the shit out of things it vents on, or get soaked, etc............

For instance, you may not want to stick your brand new tools where it vents unless you like extra rust on your shears or something.

Thats about it.

Don't tick your neighbors off. I told mine everytime my tank vents I'll give em 20 bucks for their anguish. Also, when your tank vents, you have to begin using the oxy. If you gotta get outta bed and work so your neighbors can get back to sleep, then do so..

Thats the downside of lox..............Pretty much the the only con.

In general though, I would say 8 psi isn't really enough to justify lox, considering the venting and stuff.

It is upkeep.

ANywho, peace.

[Super Phunk]

I'm going to just assume you have know idea what a pressure builder is or how to adjust one .... Try searching for that, it will help a lot... This isn't the place to come in and start talking shit on liquid oxygen. You won't get far, lox is the lifeblood of this community. My mirage will kick a k tank in 6- 8 hrs for 30$ a lox tank will run my mirage for 10-14 hrs a day for a month and a lox tank should hardly ever vent off if its set right and the tank has a good vacum.

[The Goat]

well like I said I only work weekdays 5 hours a day and I work with my psi on 8, I also rarely touch my big flame, what do you set your psi to?

10 psi propane, 40 psi oxy. If you hardly touch your big flame, your trying to keep up with liquid on a minor, never gon to happen.

8 psi oxy makes the redmax feel like a midrange, lol.

[hashmasta-kut]

If you are going to leave for more than 2 days, run your tank out since it will vent anyways. Do this by turning on all your torches full blast, and attend them.

Or..........



ANywho, peace.

thats bull funk. only a crappy tank will empty in two-three days. a good tank that has been used steady often can sit for 2 days with no venting at all. i can get a fresh tank my oxy guys have had for two days and i could let it sit for 2 days more and it wouldnt vent usually even.

[apixdesign]

72473

those guys in the back will last me a month, $20 a month to rent and $20.57 to fill it up. I work 5 days a week 5 hours a day, better than paying $200 for liquid and $40 for rent...I just dont get the whole liquid thing, doesnt seem cheaper to me.

It's only cheaper if you use it everyday with a large torch, you don't use enough oxygen for a liquid oxygen tank

[Hung Low]

72473

those guys in the back will last me a month, $20 a month to rent and $20.57 to fill it up. I work 5 days a week 5 hours a day, better than paying $200 for liquid and $40 for rent...I just dont get the whole liquid thing, doesnt seem cheaper to me.
$20 a month for tank rental is high bro. I pay $60 a year and that's a little high. Fills are $14 for me. Quoted me $90 for lox tank but I don't get the hours for lox
My nortel would run two tanks a week,

[minority]

really great info you guys like I said I didnt know too much about them, I just walked into my shop and it already had one, but since Im not constantly pumping stuff out I think Ill stick with my small tanks, and thanks funksizzle thats probably just about everything I would need to know about these things, I had no idea they needed so much attention and upkeep, this was way over my head. thanks again you guys.

[Greymatter Glass]

really great info you guys like I said I didnt know too much about them, I just walked into my shop and it already had one, but since Im not constantly pumping stuff out I think Ill stick with my small tanks, and thanks funksizzle thats probably just about everything I would need to know about these things, I had no idea they needed so much attention and upkeep, this was way over my head. thanks again you guys.

Don't give up in it entirely. There's still a lot to learn, and if you're not really using your torch to it's full potential you don't really have the experience to make a sound decision about your long term oxygen consumption yet anyways. When you figure out how to make your torch really work for you, you'll understand the liquid oxygen thing. Keep in mind there's around 4800 cubic feet of oxygen (gas) in 160L of liquid oxygen, do the math based on your cylinder sizes. Generally figure between 16 and 22 tanks worth in 1 liquid fill. 16 * $20.57 = $329.12 + 20/mo vs. $240/mo for the same volume of oxygen. If you pay less than $240/mo for tanked oxygen, use tanked oxygen. If you limit your torch use for fear of running out of oxygen, you probably need liquid.

Stick with the high pressure tanks for now. You don't say where you live, but I agree that you're paying too much unless you live on an island or more than 90 minutes from a decent sized town.

Liquid Oxygen is perishable, I agree 100% with everytjhing Somewhere said above. I suspect your tank is just fine, and complaining to the supplier will only alienate you from them. When you decide to come into the fold of liquid oxygen users, don't hesitate to ask your supplier to show you how the tank works, how to make sure it's safe, how to adjust the economizer and pressure builder valves, etc.

All in all, once set up, a liquid oxygen tank doesn't require much upkeep or attention... just make sure you know how it works, and what you can expect.